


Rehearsal Doodles

by boleynhowards



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:13:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23453812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boleynhowards/pseuds/boleynhowards
Summary: After an injury prevents Anna from performing in the show, her mood is dampened.Kat notices this and is determined to lift her spirits.
Relationships: Anna of Cleves/Katherine Howard
Comments: 3
Kudos: 103





	Rehearsal Doodles

Though she often dreaded attending them, Anna was suddenly realising how much she enjoyed rehearsals for the show.

The fourth queen sat in the front row of the theatre, arms crossed. On the stage were the other five queens, all singing along and dancing around to the fifth number of the show, Haus of Holbein. The song was arguably the most fun to perform and rehearse because, each time they did so, something new happened. Whether it was a crazy freestyle or something a little more tame for the stage, the queens had to hold in their laughter every time they performed this song.

Today, Anne had deemed it appropriate to jump into a split, only to trip as she flailed back up and cause the song to have to come to a stop. That and the rest on stage to burst out into a fit of laughter as Jane offered a hand to help the second queen up. Anna yearned to be up there too.

Why wasn’t she? Well, rather embarrassingly for her, she had also tripped and fallen two weeks ago during a rehearsal during No Way. Only that time, it was much worse than Anne’s stumble because she fell in a way that twisted her ankle at an obscure angle that rendered her useless for walking, let alone dancing.

A six hour trip to the hospital (in which four hours was spent in the waiting room) had provided her with a set of crutches and a white plaster cast that completely ruined her look, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Can I still do the show?”

That was the first thing she asked after her x-ray was back, displaying a fracture in her foot. The answer was, as expected, no. So that’s how she found herself sitting in the front row of rehearsals whilst the others horsed around on stage, feeling bored and a little lonely.

Briefly, Anna wondered if coming to the rehearsals was even worth it. She had been offered to stay at home countless times but had insisted on coming because, even if she wasn’t participating, she didn’t want to miss out on anything. At the time, a day at the theatre with the others seemed much more preferable than a day at home with nothing but the television, books and games to entertain herself. Now she wasn’t so sure she had made the right choice.

It wasn’t that she was mad at the other queens, but rather herself. She should have realised that coming to the theatre would literally be a whole day of sitting around whilst the others were too busy to talk to her. Rolling her eyes at her own miscalculating, Anna glanced down at her phone for what must have been the millionth time that hour. Nothing new, of course. Just the same mindless scrolling through her feed and liking a few fan works here and there.

Another how many hours of this? Four? Great. She had already exhausted the new posts on her explore page within minutes, leaving her to lock her phone again and stare at a new random lighting fixture in the ceiling as she waited for the monotonous hours to drag by.

Waiting. Waiting so long that her eyes began to close and the sound of the music and singing on stage began to fade into background noise. Her boredom was manifesting into sleepiness, and whilst Anna was usually not the daytime sleeper, what better did she have to do? She succumbed.

The next thing she knew, she was stirring awake with no idea how long she had slept but a feeling it hadn’t been too long - much to her dismay. Peeling her eyes at the stage, she adjusted to the lighting and began listening to the music again, noticing that currently the queens were rehearsing Heart of Stone. Everything was how it should be. Jane stood central, singing passionately whilst three other queens sat behind her in the shadows.

Three? Anna raised an eyebrow. Sure, she was out, so that decreased the total, but there was meant to be four of them there at least. She quickly counted who was present on stage to realise who was missing. Catherine of Aragon. Anne Boleyn. Catherine Parr. Which meant…

Katherine Howard was missing from the stage. Anna sat up slightly, a little panicked and assuming the worst had happened whilst she was out. Perhaps Kat had had a panic episode during All You Wanna Do? That wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Before she could get up and ask someone what had happened though, her worries were diminished by a voice below her and to her left.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Anna glanced downward to see Kat. Though confused as to why Kat was crouching down in the seats next to her rather than on stage rehearsing, she was relieved that the younger queen was okay.

“No, don’t worry. What are you doing?” Anna raised an eyebrow, barely being able to make out Kat because of the main lights being off and the spotlight being directed towards the stage.

Kat rose up from her squatting position on the ground, taking the seat next to Anna. She then held up a pink marker pen. “Well, you looked really bored and kind of sad. So, because I don’t really do much during Heart of Stone, I asked if I could come and sit with you for a bit. But you were asleep, so…” She gestured downward to Anna’s cast, “I hoped it would cheer you up? You weren’t meant to wake up until after I was finished though.”

Following Kat’s gesture, Anna looked down at her cast. She couldn’t make sense of a difference until she pulled out her phone and turned the flashlight on, directing the beam down to it. What was previously a bland white plaster attached to her leg was now covered in pink doodles. Smiley faces, hearts, flowers, spirals; there was a whole masterpiece on there. Signed at the top was the word ‘Kitty’ and, next to that, a love heart with the word ‘Anna’ on the other side.

Don’t get Anna wrong, her whole ‘aesthetic’ was something along the lines of badass, dark colours, intimidating… you get the picture. But, even if the designs were the epitome of innocence and playfulness, Anna couldn’t help but smile as she looked over each quick scribble.

“I love it, Kat.” Anna moved her gaze up from the cast and back at the fifth queen, who’s lips broke into a bright smile at her reaction. She gave a small cheer which Anna found adorable, continuing to warm her heart along with the kind gesture.

  
“I did a good job then!” She beamed, “I was scared you wouldn’t like it, but I thought it was better having this than what Anne said she was going to draw when she realised you were asleep.”

“What did Anne say she was going to draw?”

Kat just shook her head. Anna wished she could say she was surprised, but knowing the second queen she was not. She would just have to interrogate her about it later.

“Well, thank you, Kat. Seriously.” Anna gave her a wide smile, her bored and irritated mood from earlier replaced with one bouncy and affectionate.

“No problem.” Kat smiled back before rapidly changing the subject, and for the first time since they arrived at the theatre early that morning, Anna actually found herself entertained and interested.

They talked about the other queens and their silly antics. They talked about a new game Kat wanted on the Switch and a new TV show Anna had been meaning to watch. They talked about nothing and everything all at once. It might have been a mundane conversation for anyone else, but for Anna, she enjoyed it. Or perhaps she just enjoyed Kat’s company. Regardless, she was losing track of time and didn’t want their conversation to end.

It had to though. The pair were snapped out of their debate over who was the best character in a movie they had a mutual interest in by Cathy calling over to the audience. “Kat! It’s time for All You Wanna Do.”

With a sigh, Kat turned back to Anna. “I’m gonna have to go.”

“Don’t worry, you know I’ll be here watching you perform.” Anna reassured, letting go of Kat’s hand that she hadn’t realised she was holding.

“Wish me luck then.” Kat grinned as she rose from her seat, grabbing the microphone she had discarded to the side.

“You don’t need it, mein liebling. You smash it every time.”

“Thanks.” Kat warmly smiled before she followed it up mischievously with, “I’ll still try to break a leg though.”

“Kat!” Anna gasped with mock offence, but the younger was already darting out of the stalls and clambering back onto the stage. The devious grin still never left her face though.

Then the music started and Anna watched the performance with more attention than she had been giving the others that day. She always marvelled at Kat’s ability to turn a song with such a morbid message into something upbeat and playful, yet still manage to capture the seriousness of the matter by the end of it. She supposed Kat was more talented than she let on.

By the end of the song, Anna expected Kat to be kept on stage for longer to run through a few more songs before finishing, so she was surprised when everyone started to grab their water bottles and pack up.

“Why are you finishing?” Anna asked Aragon as she walked by her seat to grab her bag. “Don’t you still have more songs?”

Aragon chuckled slightly, shaking her head and taking a swig of her water. “We saved All You Wanna Do until last so we wouldn’t have to pull Kat from you for too long. It’s time to go home now. Haven’t you looked at the time?”

Anna glanced at her phone clock, surprised that it had been four hours since the last time she checked. In other words, rehearsals were over and the queens were going to be on their way home. Spending the time talking to Kat just seemed to make it fly by.

On the way back to their shared flat that day, Anna sat by the window and next to Kat. Though the girl was too busy rambling about something with her cousin now, Anna kept an ear open with a smile to herself as she stared out the window and watched the sunset London streets roll by.

Perhaps coming to rehearsal wasn’t such a bad mistake after all.


End file.
